Killer Instinct
by xSakuraWings
Summary: Sakura Haruno, infamous demon slayer hadn't expected this at all. Then again who would believe her if she said that the strongest yet most gorgeous group of S-class demons were chasing after her? /AkatsukixSakura/
1. The Tale

**Disclaimer : **I do not own Naruto or its characters .

**A/N : **The story that has the highest vote after Captured . Here it is ; xSakuraWings presents to you a romance tale of a demon slayer and demon(s) !

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"_Blood_..."

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"I need _more."_

"_Blood_.. I want _your_ blood."

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"It's not enough! I need _**MORE."**_

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><p><strong>Killer Instincts<strong>

-The Tale-

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><p>It all started with a folklore tale, created just merely for pure entertainment. Its origin was unknown and it shall remain as that. A story that no one would have believed or trusted. Maybe people refused to acknowledge the truth behind the folklore tale. Soon, it became a legend that could never be erased from their minds. And they would never forget it even if they tried to. No one had predicted this. The worthless tale was actually the real thing.<p>

The folklore tale is actually a story about a hidden small village somewhere in the Fire Country, where the townspeople live in peace and harmony. They had been living their lives pleasantly until that fateful night. There was the sound of wolves' howling and it was full moon, shining brightly in the dark skies. Surely, not a good omen.

A group of unnatural beings had appeared out of nowhere and started killing off innocent people. Some said they had emerged from the dark shadows. Some said they were sent by the Death God. But the truth is still unknown. They were the most unusual beings the townspeople have ever seen.

They had deathly pale skin and a skinny figure, almost as if they were dead carcasses and made up of just bones. What feared the townspeople the most were their blood red eyes. The colour was so intense, so scary. It was like as if they were really bleeding from their eyes. Their body structures were almost human-like except they had sharper fingernails or claws which could shred a body into pieces and sharp fangs which could bite off heads.

The poor people didn't stand a chance against them. They were too fast for them and the humans couldn't even track their body movements. Easily, they could have wiped the whole town population off without much effort.

It crossed their minds that this group of supernatural beings was demons. However, they could do nothing about it. They were normal humans impossible to match up against deadly and killer demons. Just when all of the townspeople had lost their hope and started to accept their fate, the most unexpected thing happened.

In the corner of their eyes, they saw a glimpse of a tall and proud feminine figure standing on top of the hill just below their village. The aura illuminating from her was powerful and mighty, just the sheer presence of it made the demons shiver with fear. Immediately sensing the foreign presence, the demons stopped attacking the harmless villagers and turned to see their challenger.

At high speed, the heroine jumped from the hill and landed gracefully and skillfully onto the ground, not the least worried that she was surrounded by a group of demons. Pulling out a sharp blade from her back, she stood there with a battle pose ready for anything aimed at her. Her bright eyes glowed in the dark, a bloodthirsty emotion in those orbs enough to rival her enemies.

The villagers began to fret when all the demons had ganged up together on the heroine. They prayed for her safety and for theirs too. Somehow, the beautiful fighter was not scared but instead there was a glint of excitement in her eyes. As their claws began to reach for her, she swung her blade around her, slashing through their pale bodies and decapitating them.

The way that the fighter was combatting against the demon was so elegant. She almost looked like as if she was dancing instead of fighting. Her long hair danced with the wind. There was some blood splattered on her face. Her hands and her clothes were covered by the crimson liquid but she didn't mind. The villagers' safety was far more important.

_Her_ village's safety was far more important.

More demons showed up and attacked the heroine much to the villagers' dismay. At this rate, their savior might not last long. But to their surprise, she had gained even more strength and was attacking the demons rapidly without breaking a sweat. Some villagers were convinced that she was an angel sent by God to protect them.

In the end, what were left in the battle were the dead and bloodied carcasses of the demons lying on the ground. The smell of death was in the air mingled with the stench of demon blood. Truly a sight not to be forgotten for the villagers.

Now, their savior, heroine and protector stood in the middle of the battlefield all bloodied yet still standing around the demons. There was the slightest relief on her face as she turned and smiled gently at the horrified villagers who were immediately charmed by her natural beauty. Not only was she a fighter but she was a lovely female too.

Before the villagers had a chance to thank her, the heroine had disappeared into the shadows leaving the battlefield. In the end, no one had known what really happened or who their savior was. As a sign of gratitude towards the heroine, the leader of the small village had given a title to the mysterious female slayer.

"_Chimamire no Hime."_

The bloody princess.

Before she left, the villagers had caught a sight of her from far away. She had blood all over her body and somehow her soft skin contrasted perfectly with the crimson colour. That was the only thing that the villagers could remember. A female soaked in blood and yet still look enchanting.

She was also known as the infamous demon slayer in their village. But many years had passed and still her identity was unknown. They had tried many ways to search for the heroine but failed. Until now, she had never appeared in the village.

Maybe it was because there were no more demon attacks. Their village has been so peaceful ever since that attack.

But is this really just a tale?

It is real?

The truth is hidden within.

You just have to look deep if you want to know.

Curious, aren't you?

Well, everything will be revealed in the next chapter.

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><p><strong><em>T<em>**o _**B**_e _**C**_ontinued...

in the next chapter!

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><p>This is an AkatsukixSakura story!<p>

Meaning the entire story will be focusing on Sakura and the Akatsuki members.

Don't expect much of other Sakura pairings. There might be some MultiSaku before Akatsuki shows up though.

Until then, I hope you'll all support this story :D

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	2. The Heroine

**Disclaimer: **I do not own.

I do apologize for taking so much of time to update this story. But here it is now! Yes, another Sakura Harem story but this time it is about demon slayers and demons and the peace and blablablabla, just read okay? I might not be actively writing this story much since I focus much more on Captured and WITD but I'll try my best to update if my readers want more :) Enjoy.

**note:** thanks to naive-toots and ketsueki no kuki for telling me my huge mistake! I own you guys one . I've just realised I've uploaded the wrong chapter for this story an hour ago. how stupid of me. *head desk*

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><p><strong>Killer Instinct<strong>

The Heroine

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><p>Above the tall mountains there stood a figure facing the small, hidden village below the evergreen hills, eyes observing every single detail like a hawk. She basked in the glory of the dawning sun behind her and beneath her feet a shadow slowly began to form itself. Seeing the village at peace, she hummed contently to herself.<p>

For a moment, her face looked calm and serene with a small smile playing on her lips. But she knew that this moment wouldn't last long enough, at least until the dusk comes. She brushed her blonde bangs away from her face and let her index finger linger on the emerald diamond imprinted on her forehead. There was a glimmer of light coming from the diamond-shaped jewel and behind her was the full rising of the sun above the skies.

She closed her eyes revelling in the fresh morning breeze and silence around her. Hearing footsteps coming from behind her, she snapped her hazel orbs open with a serious expression. The footsteps stopped when the owner was standing right beside her, a pink haired girl who looked excited to step into her new home.

"Sakura."

"Tsunade-shissou."

"Are you ready?"

The pink haired girl nodded enthusiastically with a grin on her face.

Tsunade chuckled at her apprentice's childish acts. She stared at the pinkette with a warm smile on her face. A new beginning. A start of a new journey.

"Let's go then."

And both of them sprinted down the mountains in a very fast momentum, the wind blowing against their body and their hair flying wild as they jumped down the waterfalls, dashing across the river to the other side of the village. It was a race for both of them to see who would reach home first.

_Home sweet home._

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[Love is like a _**wild**_ rose - beautiful and _calm_ but willing to draw **blood** in its defence.]

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**10 years later**

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It was sometime early in the morning. It was somewhere along the small streets guarded by rows of shops and houses of the hidden village called Konoha. It was a pleasant day as usual for the townspeople living there. The people walked up and down the streets, greeting each other with gentle smiles and respectful nods. In a sea of people, it would be hard to spot someone you recognise with so many shades of brown, black, yellow and red.

But, it wouldn't be that hard to spot a girl with pink hair would it?

And this was the seventy third time Sakura Haruno wished that she hadn't been born with an obnoxious hair colour that could be recognise even from ten miles away. Heck, it was as obvious as Lee's fuzzy eyebrows and his green jumpsuit.

The pinkette grumbled under her breath for having the brightest and obvious shade of pink for her hair colour. If she had known, she would have dyed her hair black like Hinata's or blonde like Ino's. She didn't even mind dying her hair red like Gaara's.

Now, it was time to regret it. The whisperings of the villagers got louder and louder as she approached them. Sakura tried her best to put on a stoic look, carrying her feet as fast as she could without looking like she was trying to run away.

Sighing, she wondered how her shissou could handle this type of attention from the townspeople every single day without fail. Tsunade-shissou must love being in the centre of attention. Honestly, it was flattering to gain their respect and care but sometimes it was just too much for a pink haired girl to take.

_Don't let them recognise me. Please. Please. Please._

"Look, isn't that her?"

"Yes, the one with the pink hair right? Definitely, it's her."

"Good morning, Haruno-_sama_! How are you?"

"Sakura-_hime_, you look simply stunning today!"

"Here, _hime_. Have some steamed buns, I made them specially for you!"

"Sakura-_sama_, take this bottle of sake home for Tsunade-hime will you? I heard she loved drinking."

"Sakura, my youthful cherry blossom darling! Will you marry me? You are the most beautiful creature living in this youthful world!"

Okay, that just crossed the line.

The pinkette fought down the urge to puke at those cheesy lines directed at her. Here right now was the boy who had been chasing after her since she was ten until now. He went down on his knee and stared up at her lovingly. She swore there were twinkling stars behind his eyes. He was sweet and all with a bunch of flowers in his hands earning gasps and murmurings among the villagers.

Sakura's eye was twitching badly but in order not to let her faithful admirer down, she put on her best smile. A strained one. Here it goes again, she thought. The pinkette faked a cough. "Lee-san.."

Lee's eyes twinkled even more. "Yes, my youthful flower? I shall protect you from those beasts and together we shall protect the village from harm like the youthful couple we are! Gai-sensei would be proud of our youthfulness!" The green jumpsuit boy jumped up with his energetic power and posed his usual youthful pose with a wink thrown at her.

Her eyes twitched again at his bold confession.

"Lee-san."

"My beautiful flower! I shall forever keep your youthfulness by my side-"

More people crowded around them forming a huge circle with Sakura and Lee in the middle. Some were cheering for him while others clapped their hands. Some even laughed and chuckled at his funny confession.

'_**SHANARO! What are they doing? No way, I'm marrying fuzzy brows here!'**_

Sakura eyed the boy who was still babbling away about his youthful love and their soon to be youthful marriage and their first to be born youthful baby. She pinched her nose bridge and began counting backwards from 10. Her fiery temper was coming to her like an incoming train. Fast and hot.

"-our _youthfulness_ shall prevail-"

God, someone. Anyone. Just come and save her.

"-we'll name our baby Junior _Youthful_ Lee-"

Her burning emerald orbs snapped open with an intense emotion. No one missed the killer look in her eyes. Everyone except Lee gulped and took a few steps backwards, not wanting to get involved in the fight.

Lee was still babbling away like a gossiping lady in the market.

Growling dangerously, Sakura crackled her knuckles as a dark aura began to surround her. "Lee-san." Her voice was deadly sweet but scary enough to send shrills. "Sorry to _**break**_ it to you," she smiled an eerie smile and stepped closer to him.

Lee felt like he was growing smaller and smaller as the aggressive pink haired girl moved closer. Beads of sweat rolled down his face and he gulped louder. "S-Sakura-san.."

"But I will have to politely _**reject**_ your offer." Her voice rang in his ears clearly. "Do you have any _**problem**_ with that?" Her menacing form glared down at him, as if daring him to say one word.

Lee stuttered out. "N-No.." But then he kept quiet. A few seconds later, he nodded his head furiously with a blush. "I understand now, my youthful blossom!" He grinned at Sakura who was frozen there. "I shall propose next time since you are shy!" With a little more confidence, Lee grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

She smacked her forehead mentally. And she thought she had finally got rid of the fuzzy brows just to have him think that she was shy.

'_**Jeez, fuzzy brows must have knocked his inner brains out when he was born.'**_

'_I think it was before he was born, Inner.'_

Lee winked at her earning another eye twitch from Sakura. "I bid you farewell, my youthful Sakura! I will propose to you next time when we meet!" He waved his hand childishly and skipped away like an idiot.

It took the pinkette one minute to process what had happened exactly. And by the time she was done, she gave loud growl enough to make the people surrounding her flinch. Then, she turned around to face them with a dark look on her face. It was more than enough to make them piss in their pants and faint on the spot.

"_**What.**_

Are.

_**You.**_

Staring.

_**At?"**_

In less than one second, everyone scattered and ran off leaving only a furious pinkette standing in the middle of the street. Noticing that everyone left, she twirled and raised her fist in the air. "Cha! Finally, I'm alone!" She grinned to herself and began to walk.

Only to run into a hard rock.

As she bumped her face onto the hard surface of the _rock_, she stumbled back. Sakura braced herself for a painful land on her butt but instead two hands came around her waist and wrapped themselves around her to pull her back. She squeaked when her body was crushed onto another firm body.

Sakura grabbed her cute button nose, painful from being smash onto the body. "Ouch." She kept massaging it and glanced up at her saviour.

What she came across was a gorgeous looking boy with short messy red locks and jade eyes. Did she mention he had black rimmed eyes that made him look absolutely devilish handsome? He had a tattoo imprinted on the side of his forehead with the kanji love. But that wasn't the reason why she felt like she was melting. His smouldering gaze was what held her there.

"Waawa!"

The cold red head stared at her, eyes unblinking as if she had just spoken an alien language. Sakura raised an eyebrow and repeated his name again.

"_Waawa_?"

He was still staring. But this time he had an amused glint in his jade eyes.

Sighing, Sakura let go of her nose and her eyebrows knitted together to observe the silent red head. "Gaara?" She called his name again. This time without pinching her nose.

Just hearing his name rolling off her tongue made him sigh in content but he kept his cold façade on. He was still staring at her almost as if she would disappear if he looked away. Gaara just couldn't tear his eyes away from her mesmerising emerald orbs that seem to pull him in. He blamed her for doing that to him. Until now, he still couldn't control himself when it comes to Sakura.

His breath hitched when his gaze wandered lower. She had a slender body and curves just in the right places enough to make a man go on his knees. Her pink hair along with those enchanting emerald orbs made her look exotic. Her smooth milky porcelain skin drove him crazy with the need to touch her. To topple it off, her fiery temper along with her innocent look attracted him to her even more.

She was indeed the most beautiful girl he had laid his eyes on and he never plan to give her up to any other male. A possessive growl came from him as he nuzzled his face into her shoulder. He smirked feeling her temperature rising and her heartbeat accelerating with their bodies pressing onto each other.

"Gaara?"

"_Gaara_."

The red head could feel her stiffening in his embrace and immediately he pulled away from her or more like pushing her aside. Despite the fact that he was the one who made the situation awkward, his face didn't show any sign of guilt as he once again gazed deeply at her.

"Y-You!" Sakura blinked a few times before blushing like mad and pointing an accusing finger at Gaara.

"Yes, me?" He said and a smirk flickered across his face.

"You!" She huffed more and began waving the pointed finger in front of his face.

"Tsunade requests for you to be at the shrine, Haruno." His deliciously deep voice saying her name made the pinkette's blush deepened more if it could. His jade eyes were still glued to her and Sakura silently cursed why Gaara could still look so emotionless after he had just hugged and nuzzled her like he owned her. Not even a blush or a smile.

The red head ignored Sakura's inner ramblings, swiftly turning around and heading towards the shrine. Determined not to be left behind, Sakura followed him hot after his heels.

"You know, it's been _ten_ years since we're living together. You could at least call me by my first name, Gaara."

She couldn't see the smallest hint of a smile on his lips because all she could see was his back facing her.

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**[ K i l l e r . I n s t i n c t ]**

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The two climbed a flight of stairs in order to get to the shrine located in the higher lands. It wasn't that much of a quiet journey for Gaara and Sakura with a red head who kept smirking and stirring up a very temperamental pinkette and that was how it went for the two – Sakura constantly trying to throttle Gaara and Gaara, the ice block ignoring Sakura like she doesn't exist.

There was once when her hand lingered a little too close to her kunai in her pouch. And thus, the image of Gaara's neck embedded by a kunai and a puddle of blood around his body appeared in her head. Followed by her insane chuckles and maniacal laughter from her Inner echoing in her brain was more than enough to push her boiling blood down to normal levels.

"Hn."

Just like that, she snapped out of her daydream and back to reality.

"You've just ruined my private moment." Sakura stated tonelessly.

Gaara threw her a look that stated do-I-look-like-I-give-a-damn-care and strode past her heading to the shrine entrance.

"Eye liner bastard," she muttered.

There was a soft snoring coming from her right. Sakura caught a glimpse of a male sleeping under the perching tree with a book covering his face. Without any second guessing Sakura already knew who it was – there was only one male who loved to sleep and watch clouds during a sunny day.

"Shikamaru!"

Her most favourite person after Naruto.

Shikamaru was sleeping peacefully until he felt something crashing onto his body, hard. He got up with a yelp and ready to shove whatever that was on top of him now. He had expected Kiba's dog, Akamaru to be on the same level as his face, licking his cheek playfully.

What he got instead was an angelic pink haired girl with large doe emerald eyes staring adorably at him with her upper body pressing onto his stomach and her hands circling themselves around his waist. He could feel her chest pressing onto his muscles and feel her warmth radiating from her skin. She was cuddling him like a toy, damn it. And to think she had the nerve to grin at him.

Shikamaru was a pure genius and a perfect strategist. But right now, his brain was completely malfunctioning just looking her. He didn't even have the time to fight off the dust of pink on his cheeks. He could only register one word on his mind.

_Soft_.

Great, Sakura's going to think he is a pervert.

"Sakura. What're you doing?" He said in a bored tone. Shikamaru scratched his head with an annoyed look while his dark orbs stayed still on her emerald ones. He found those two pools of enigma very captivating.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She drawled lazily, trying to imitate him. Sakura poked the fabric on his stomach a few times, pouting cutely.

'_You look like you're trying to seduce me, woman.'_ He screamed in his head, fighting back another blush.

The pinkette raised a slender eyebrow at the brunette. She sighed, pushing herself up and standing in front of Shikamaru. Sakura looked every bit as intimidating as the demon slayer she called herself as.

"I'm just waking you up, lazy head. My work is done now." She gave a cheeky smile and a friendly wave before going into the shrine.

"Che, troublesome." He grumbled and watched her leave. When he was sure that her form was out of his sight, he sighed and grabbed his book, placing it above his face and once again drifting back to dreamland.

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Sitting on the bench surrounded by flowers and a fish pond was a slim blonde with light blue eyes who was dressed in a simple white kimono with sleeves folded up to her forearms. She twirled a strand of her blonde hair and waited patiently for her emerald eyed friend. She loved flowers. She enjoyed watering them and watching them grow as much as she adored arranging flowers.

She'd been living in this shrine for ten years together along with the other orphans whose parents had been brutally killed by those horrid creatures. Luckily, Jiraiya was kind enough to let them stay and live in his shrine built in a higher land than the other homes. Ino didn't know why he built the shrine in this strategic place but once she stepped out of the shrine, she finally knew the reason why.

Just standing outside the entrance of the shrine, one could observe everything and anything happening inside the village with just one look. That was when she realised that Jiraiya wanted them to live here for protection and to guard the safety of the villagers if _they_ were coming.

The blonde fisted her hand just remembering the massacre that took place ten years ago. How the villagers were dying in the hands of those monsters. Those monsters, or demons as the villager dubbed them, had an almost human-like form but their eyes were narrow slits of bloody red with sharp teeth and long pointed fingernails.

Ino Yamanaka had witness their killer moves first hand with her own eyes. Everything happened so fast in an instant, she could only scream in horror as those sharp nails tore through her parents' bodies with just one slash. There was no chance for them to fight back yet alone defend themselves. She would never forget that incident and forever it would leave a deep scar within her.

If it hadn't been for Jiraiya who quickly carried her little form and ran away from them, Ino's body would have been shredded into tiny pieces. For that, she was always grateful in many ways towards the old man, even though he was a super perverted guy sometimes. Ino rolled her eyes like the dramatic blonde she was.

"Unless you want your eyes to be stuck like a do-do, Ino-_pig_," a cheery voice said behind her. "I suggest you to stop rolling them."

Ino brushed her long hair and flipped them, eyeing her pinkette friend. "Forehead, I look good no matter how my eyes are." She twirled around showing her slender and slim supermodel figure before stopping to face Sakura with a wink.

Sakura choked on her own saliva. Then, she looked up at her friend with a dreaded expression before emotionlessly saying, "That's the biggest lie I've ever heard in my whole life."

Sakura was rewarded with a loud roar from Ino before the enraged blonde tackled herself on her. The two girls rolled over and over on the grass, playfully hitting and slapping each other with strangled giggles and chuckles.

"Anyone would die for a figure like mine, forehead!"

"Yeah, anyone will _die_ if they had a figure like yours, pig."

"You're just jealous and honestly I don't blame you."

"Speak for yourself, blondie."

"Billboard brow!"

Finally, the quarrel came to an end as they both rolled off each other and collapsed on the soft bed of grass. They welcomed the comforting silence as they watched the deep blue sky and white fluffy clouds. Sakura inclined her head to see her best friend and just at the same time Ino did the same.

There was no exchange of words, just bright smiles and bubbly laughter. Both had the same thought – they enjoyed each other's company since they were little until now. And no one, no one at all could separate their bond.

There was a convincing cough coming from above them. "Are we interrupting the moment here?"

A grinning brunette and a shy raven haired girl stood before them, eager to join in their fun. The brunette, TenTen dropped down on her knees, all the while her grin was still plastered on her face. The abashed looking girl slowly made her way to take the place next to Sakura, all the while her blush still on her cheeks.

"I-Ino-chan, Sakura-chan. H-Hello." The ever-shy Hinata greeted them as loudly as she could, stuttering. She wore a kimono similar to Ino's but she didn't pull her sleeves up. She tugged her legs behind her gracefully. A few strands of her shiny raven hair fell over her shoulders as she placed both her hands on top of her lap. Hinata was an educated Hyuuga like Neji who came from a wealthy clan but that was until the massacre ten years ago, leaving them both parentless.

"What's up? Got any hot gossip?" TenTen's grin widened more. She was wearing a chinese style sleeveless shirt with buttons on the side and black ninja pants. Sitting Red Indian style, she laced her fingers together. TenTen wasn't the girly or feminine type as like Ino or Hinata, compared to them she was a bit tomboyish. The girl's parents had too been murdered cruelly ten years ago.

Ino waved her fingers at the brunette, masking her boredom. "Nothing much."

"Where's Temari?" The pink haired beauty asked. Usually, the older blonde would be around the shrine to check on them. She was, the oldest among them after all. It was quite weird that Temari wasn't here with them.

Hinata giggled. "T-Temari-chan is with Tsunade-sama."

Sakura's mouth made an O shape. She casually placed her arms behind her head. The four fell into another comforting silence. Until-

"OH MY _DUCK_!" The pinkette bolted up and grabbed her pink locks in frustration. "How can I forget?" She began to drown in her babblings again.

"Calm down, forehead girl. What's wrong?"

"IwasssupposetomeetTsunade-shissoubutIsomehowforgot!" Sakura muttered in one breath, her face going paler and paler just thinking of her master's punishment for being late. She wouldn't want to waste another second. "I'mgoingnow!" She zipped off, leaving puffs of smoke behind for her three friends.

"Damn, she's fast."

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She let her legs carried her as fast as she could, barging into Tsunade's room. Sakura's mind felt so packed suddenly with alarms screeching loud and clear as she slid the Japanese style door open with a strength of a bull and effectively ripping the whole thing out. Realising that her master was going to rip her head off soon for tearing off her door, she quickly bowed and apologized.

"Tsunade-shissou! I'm so sorry, it wasn't on purpose. I swear!"

Her master sat on top of a comfy cushion seemingly unfazed by Sakura's brutal strength. Tsunade sighed, sipping more of her sake. "Come in, Sakura. Just leave the door alone, will you?" She stated in a tone laced with humour that made her apprentice's face all flustered.

The pinkette nodded, keeping her head down and eyes on the floor as she walked into the room. Sensing another presence in the room, Sakura raised her head and let her eyes wander. Her senses were alert all the time, she fisted her hand ready to attack whenever the enemy approach. Emerald orbs met with a pair of dark obsidian orbs and a pair of silver white orbs that looked none too amused.

"Sasuke? Neji?"

"Hn."

Sakura failed to hide the curiosity in her voice. Those two were the most unlikely pair to be stuck together in the same room. Her gaze fell onto her master's form, silently demanding a reason for the sudden meeting. Her meeting with Tsunade was always just the both of them. But why – include the two ice cubes in this one? She frowned.

The occupants in the room winced and flinched as Tsunade's hand slammed onto the table hard. "Drop that look, Sakura. I expect none the less from you. Considering that you are _late_, we had to wait for you." Tsunade scolded, her honey eyes narrowed at her prized student, clearly upset about her punctuality. "The three of you, sit down unless you want to be buried five feet underground!"

The three scattered like mad and took their respective places, scared for their lives. Sakura sat between Neji and Sasuke, unaware of the dark aura surrounding the both of them. The coffee haired coloured boy, Neji crossed his arms in front of his chest with a calm look on his face but not any less threatening than the male beside of Sakura. The raven haired boy, Sasuke had a dark look as he too folded his arms casually.

Tsunade watched every single one of their expressions, sipping another taste of her sake. Not dwelling long for her explanation, she started. "The three of you are in charge of the village's safety for tonight. You're taking over the night watch." She paused, waiting for any questions but none came so she continued. "As you can see, I have some business to attend to and will be unable to go with Sakura for our usual night watch."

She caught someone raising their hand for permission to speak. "Speak, Uchiha."

"Why would Sakura need the two of us?" Sasuke's voice was arrogant and mighty like the Uchiha he was. "Wouldn't one of us be more than enough?" He smirked at Neji who glared at him.

Sakura retorted back for herself. "He's right, shissou. I can handle this alone!" She tried her best to keep her temper in check, afraid it she might burst. "I don't need any assistance to slay those _demons."_ It became a growl at the end of the sentence.

She felt Neji's hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "Haruno, it's not about you alone doing this to show you can do it." He fixed his serious gaze on her and he knew he would win in this match. "It's about protecting the village." He was staring down at her so intensely, she had to look away.

Sakura huffed, knowing that she had lost against the Hyuuga genius. He always knew where her weak points are and would always point out the facts for her. Trying hard not to glare, she patted Neji's hand as a sign of her agreement. "_Fine_." She hissed earning a chuckle from him.

"Excellent." Tsunade's mood brightened, a smile lit up on her face. "What's important is that the villagers are protected from any harm. Just be extra alert, okay? Though, I know that you three can easily finish them off, if they decided to pay a trip to visit us." She stopped, her forehead wrinkled when she frowned. "Those _pests_ just don't give up, do they?"

A wave of bitterness suddenly hit Sakura, she clenched her hands. "They will never give up until they get what they want." Her eyes changed from a lighter shade of green to a darker one. An unwanted memory flashed through her eyes having her gritting her teeth every passing second.

"Sakura." Sasuke said from the side, not looking at her. Since when had the Uchiha been in control of his raging emotions so well? Had his family not been slaughtered by those demons?

There were a few seconds of silence until Tsunade herself broke the tense atmosphere. "Enough of this, that will be all for now." She massaged her throbbing temples. "Leave." She watched the three of them getting up and going out through the broken door. Her apprentice was the last one to step out before throwing Tsunade a disappointed look.

"Sakura-"

The pink haired girl stopped in the middle of the doorway but never turning around.

"Sakura, be careful out there."

She stiffened.

"Don't forget, even if you _are_ my protégé. You're dealing with inhuman enemies out there."

Sakura turned around, gracing Tsunade with one of her brilliant smiles and a determined look in her sparkling orbs. "I will never let you down, shissou. Trust me." Teasingly, she raised her hand to salute the blonde before leaving the room with loud, noisy footsteps.

Tsunade grabbed herself a bottle of sake and poured more into her cup. She took a sip and smiled to herself. "I know that."

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There were nine hooded figures in a dark room with faint lighted candle lights surrounding every corner. The windows were decorated beautifully with red satin curtains tied to one side in a ribbon. Above the ceiling was a glass chandelier so bright and sparkling it shone enough light for the room. There was a dark looming aura surrounding them, one that promised death and the most painful one. Any pathetic fool who was foolish enough to condemn them would be dead before they had the chance to make a move. And sometimes, they didn't even have the chance to move their finger before their impending death fell upon them.

After all, they were the most dangerous group of elite S-class demons in the demon world. They were the ones who guarded the royal council and their soon-to-be demon ruler. Any demon running into them would cower in fear and beg for mercy to be spared for their lives. And some of them actually enjoyed provoking fear from them. And some of them were terribly cruel enough to follow their bloodlust and thus killing them on the spot.

The huge oak door creaked softly, signalling another presence. A timid figure popped its head out behind the door, not wanting to step into their territory. "T-The council requests for y-your presences…" Its voice trailed off, its body trembling just feeling their threatening aura.

They didn't reply.

The small figure hesitated before repeating the sentence again. "T-The council requests for y-your presences, the g-great A-Akatsuki." Breathing hard, it lowered its head in somewhat respect for them.

A rich velvety voice asked in bored tone. "Can I have the honour?" A figure pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on.

"Do what you like, yeah." Another husky voice came from the opposite side of the room, one who was sitting on top of a table.

The timid figure's eyes widened the demon disappeared from the spot and reappeared right in front of him. He watched him silently without any emotion on his face except the slight narrowing of those bloody red eyes.

"N-No! Please forgive me! I-I did not mean any d-disrespect!"

"Just looking at your pathetic form makes me sick," he said quietly in a monotone.

"STOP! NO, PLEASE!" It cried out in pain, its hands thrashing wildly and its eyes wide from shock. It screamed it protests before it dropped like a dead corpse on the floor with its head removed from its neck and a river of blood flowing freely from its disembodied limbs.

Somewhere, far away from their world, a pink haired girl who was walking in between two males abruptly halted, feeling a strike of electricity in her veins and goose bumps beginning to form. It was either a good omen or a bad one that she could hear someone or something screaming in the back of her mind being so faint and far like a whispery warning.

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><p>Yeap , the Akatsuki are badasses and meanies this time . Much more scarier right ? Haha , guess not .<p>

**_Explaination:_** The prologue is based on the incident that happened ten years ago - where the demons went wild and started killing everyone in the village. Most of them are dead leaving just less than a quarter of the villagers surviving. The Uchiha clan, Hyuuga clan and other clans were wiped out by them leaving only the children (a few of them) and a few adults. Jiraiya, the owner of the shrine takes in the orphans inculding Ino, Hinata and the others. After a few years, Tsunade returns in the most unexpected way bringing along her little apprentice, Sakura to live together with Jiraiya. Yes, Tsunade is the demon slayer who killed off those demons. As for Sakura's past - it will be revealed soon along with maybe a few flashbacks when she was small.

The demon world is where the demons reside but they can cross dimensions into the human world. There'll be more explanation in further chapters. The Akatsuki is a group of S-class demons enough to rival the royal council's power but yet somehow they still obey the council's demands and there is a reason for that. However, the Akatsuki are egoistic and proud demons, wanting respect from the other lower class demons. They enjoy watching bullying other lower class demons as much as they enjoy killing them.

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**Review!**


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